Purpose This study examines the effect of female directors from reputable universities on Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) performance. Grounded in upper echelon theory and complemented by human capital theory, resource dependence theory, and stakeholder theory, the study argues that alumni of prestigious universities provide cognitive capital that enables female board members to advance corporate sustainability agendas. Design/methodology/approach This study employs panel data from 1,781 non-financial firms across the Asia-Pacific, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa over the 2016–2023 period (13,107 firm-year observations). The primary estimation relies on fixed-effects regression, supplemented with lagged models, Propensity Score Matching (PSM), and Two-Stage Least Squares (2SLS) to test robustness and address endogeneity concerns. Findings The findings consistently reveal a significant positive effect of female directors from reputable universities on ESG performance. The most decisive influence appears in the environmental pillar, followed by the social and governance dimensions. Further analysis indicates that this effect is more pronounced in developing markets, non-European firms, and environmentally sensitive industries, where institutional support and stakeholder pressure are relatively weaker, thereby necessitating individual capacity. These results underscore that high-quality education enhances the cognitive, ethical, and strategic capacities of female directors in advancing corporate sustainability performance. Research limitations/implications This study employs the QS World University Rankings Top 100 as a benchmark for reputable universities. While this approach provides a consistent global standard, future research may explore alternative ranking systems or country-specific classifications to capture broader dimensions of educational prestige. Practical implications For corporations, incorporating educational quality as a qualification in board recruitment strategies is essential to strengthen sustainability agendas. For regulators, policy support is needed to encourage the participation of women with globally reputable educational backgrounds in board structures. For investors, this study underscores the importance of assessing the substantive academic competence rather than merely considering gender representation. Social implications This study emphasizes the importance of expanding women’s access to high-quality higher education to accelerate gender equality and increase their opportunities to participate in top corporate managerial positions. Originality/value This study is among the early empirical investigations to demonstrate that educational prestige among female directors meaningfully influences ESG outcomes. It shifts the discourse from a narrow focus on numeric gender representation toward a qualitative governance dimension grounded in academic and cognitive attributes.
Anwar et al. (Thu,) studied this question.